LitCon Nonfiction Workshop with Jen Huntley

March 19 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Archetype and Imagination: Inspiring Creative Nonfiction through the Classics. From Odysseus’ journey to the scientific dystopia of Frankenstein, today’s writers can gain creative inspiration and structure for their craft through discussion of classic themes and their application to contemporary topics. Develop the impetus and framework for your next Creative Nonfiction essay or profile through hands-on discussion and quick writing exercises. Bring three topics you wish to explore and move your writing to the next level.

This workshop focuses on essay-length creative nonfiction and uses classic mythic and literary archetypes such as “the hero’s journey,” “the art of war,” and “the homecoming” to inspire and structure contemporary themes. After a brief overview of classic themes, writers will apply insights from literature to their own topics and build the bones of a publication-worthy essay. The workshop will be very much hands-on with significant amounts of time devoted to on-site writing and feedback from both peers and the workshop lead.

Jen Huntley, environmental historian, retired college professor and author of The Making of Yosemite: James Mason Hutchings and the Origin of America’s Favorite National Park (2011: University Press of Kansas), has written widely for both academic and popular audiences. In “East of Eden,” her weekly column for the Reno News and Review alternative newsweekly she explored the liberal perspective of Northern Nevada politics and culture; in “Edlible Traditions,” she uncovered dimensions of the region’s varied food history. She has published in numerous academic peer-reviewed articles discussing nineteenth-century environmental history and the history of print culture in the West. Her blog, “TianAnMenSix-Four+twenty” revisits eyewitness accounts of the Tian an Men Square occupation from her 1989 journals. She has taught writing in various formats, including community college humanities courses. She moved to Vashon Island in 2017 and is currently working on her second book on Yosemite history.